Readmission Appeals 2025

The procedures you must follow if you wish to appeal the Faculty Examination Committee (FEC) decision to deny you re-registration in 2025.

An academic standing at the end of 2024 of ‘not eligible to continue’ (RENN) means that you are not permitted to renew your registration for 2025 as you have not met the minimum academic requirements to do so.

Each Faculty has a Readmission Appeal Committee (RAC). The RAC meets to consider appeals from students who have failed to meet the re-registration requirements but are appealing for readmission. Your appeal goes to ONE faculty RAC only. This need not be the faculty where you were registered in 2024.

NOTE ON TRANSFERS

Between faculties
No RAC may readmit a student transferring between faculties without a written confirmation from the programme convener or Faculty Manager that the student meets the transfer criteria in the Prospectus. If you are thus appealing to be allowed to register in a faculty other than the one you were registered in in 2024, you must attach such written confirmation to your appeal.

Between programmes or streams in the same faculty
The RAC may allow a student to transfer between streams or even between programmes only if it is clear in the appeal that the student has a better chance of academic success in that stream or programme. It is your responsibility to consult the programme convener or curriculum advisor of the programme you intend to join, before submitting your appeal to establish this. Include any evidence of your discussion and the endorsement given by the advisor in your appeal.

The Readmission Appeal Process

Step 1

Read this information carefully

Step 2

Complete the correct appeal form (make sure that you have completed the checklist at the end of this information). Do not use old forms – old forms will not be accepted. Please make sure that before you submit your appeal that you make and keep a copy of your appeal form and any supporting documentation.

Save your appeal form and all supporting documentation as a SINGLE PDF file. For a free PDF combining tool, visit https://www.ilovepdf.com/.

Step 3

Upload your appeal on PeopleSoft Self Service using the RAC Service Request by the respective faculty deadline:

Your appeal form and supporting documents that has been saved as a SINGLE PDF file can only be submitted via PeopleSoft Self Service. Go to the Readmission Appeal Service Request upload for instructions on how to submit.

Step 4

The Faculty RAC will receive your appeal. Please do not include your UCT and matric results in your application.

Step 5

The RAC will consider your appeal.

Step 6

The RAC will write to you to inform you of their decision (for further information about this, please read the section titled ‘Appeal Results’).

Step 7

We strongly urge you to start making plans for what you will do if your appeal fails and you are denied readmission to UCT. Please do not wait until you know the outcome of your appeal to start planning, as you may be too late to gain entrance into another institution.

Reasons for Appeal

As mentioned above, it is important that you provide as much context and supporting information as possible to get a full picture of why you struggled academically through the year. Supporting reasons may be, for example: accommodation problems, your financial position, any emotional problems you may have had, any ill health, or family difficulties.

When the RAC evaluates appeals, members of the committee read the full appeal and are guided in their considerations by three specific questions. These are set out below. You are advised to draft your appeal in a way that provides information to the RAC accordingly.

• Were there significant events or circumstances, probably mostly beyond the control of the student, which impacted adversely on the student’s academic performance and explain the poor academic performance and were these circumstances well beyond the events or circumstances which happen to most students from time to time?
• Is there evidence (letters, documents, etc.) to confirm the events or circumstances, and a clear description of how they affected the student, and does the timing of the events correlate with the poor performance?
• Is there evidence that the difficulties have been dealt with, or are being dealt with, or that there are plans in place, so that there is a good chance that the poor performance will not simply repeat itself this year.

In addition, the committee looks carefully at the academic record, to try to evaluate whether, despite your academic record, there may be evidence of progress in key courses which might indicate a potential to complete the degree.

If you intend appealing to a different faculty to where you were previously registered, you should refer to the relevant Faculty website and electronic Faculty handbooks: to find out what programmes they offer. If you choose to apply to a different Faculty, you must provide a motivation as to why you should be considered for entry into that Faculty together with written confirmation from the programme convenor or Faculty Manager that you meet the transfer criteria.

You can find the most recent versions of the handbooks online: http://www.students.uct.ac.za/students/study/handbooks/current

Help and Advice

For help completing the form, or if you need advice on changing programmes or faculties, please contact the relevant curriculum advisors below. Be aware that people may be unavailable due to public and other holidays.

Academic advice

General RAC admin queries

UCT Central Advising and Referral Services (UCT CARES)

UCT CARES is able to assist you with navigating the RAC process and refer you to other support services as needed. Please contact uctcares@uct.ac.za

RAC your Brain:
There is also the UCT CARES Chatbot, which is easily accessible on WhatsApp. Use the chatbot to find the answers to questions you may have. There is also some information stored in drop-down menus. To connect to the Chatbot save this number +27 87 240 6965 to your phone contact book and send “Hi” on WhatsApp.

Questions about submitting your form on PeopleSoft

Should you have any technical issues with the PeopleSoft system, please email Student Systems Support at sss-helpdesk@uct.ac.za or phone 021 650 5227/4720. If you are unable to access the internet to submit your appeal on PeopleSoft please contact the Student Records Office on 021 650 3595. Do not wait until you return to campus to inform us that you did not have internet.

Appeal Outcomes

The Faculty will send you written confirmation of your RAC outcome. In addition, you can check PeopleSoft on the following dates to see the outcome of your appeal:

Final date for appeals

Checklist

• Have you completed your appeal form?
• Is your appeal clearly written and does it include all relevant evidence to support the reason(s) for your poor performance? Remember that all information submitted to the RAC remains confidential and withholding vital information will jeopardise your appeal.
• (Undergraduate only) If you are applying to transfer to another faculty, did you obtain and attach written confirmation from the programme convenor or Faculty Manager that you meet the transfer criteria? You must complete question 5 of the appeal form.
• If you are appealing to transfer to another qualification, have you checked that you would meet the current entrance requirements of that qualification? If not, the RAC cannot make an admissions decision.
• Please make sure you have combined your appeal form and supporting documents into a SINGLE PDF file and submitted your appeal on PeopleSoft.